1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to grinders and hammermills, and, more particularly to mobile wood choppers and refuse grinders of the pivot tub type, having means for conveying ground material to trucks for hauling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is highly desirable to transport a grinder or hammermill to the area the material to be ground or pulverized is located. Such transportation requires that the apparatus conform to the rules of the road, particularly in reference to width. It is also desirable that the equipment be readily accessible for maintenance and repair and that the material worked upon be conveniently loaded for distribution.
Mobile units of the pivotal tub type are known for feed and hay chopping as typified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,361, issued to D. Marcy and U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,411, issued to M. M. Herron, et al. Such units have a tub which is pivotal rearwardly, i.e. to the normal direction of movement so that the tub may be tilted horizontally and backed into the hay or feed for loading and then pivoted to a position about a vertical axis for chopping. Such construction requires any discharge structure for the chopped hay or feed to be side oriented, i.e. extend transverse to the normal direction of movement, and therefore such structure cannot be made suitable for road travel. In that both Marcy and Herron disclose hay choppers, only blower type dischargers are provided. U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,526, issued to A. A. White, discloses a tub type feed chopper having a tub set at a specified angle relative to the chassis. White utilizes an auger type conveyor for discharge of the disintegrated material. The White device is also unsuited for road travel in the use of the tilted tub in combination with tub loading equipment and laterally swinging conveyor.
Use of shields to prevent injury from flying debris and to prevent recirculation of ground material has not been known to be used on pivoting tub type grinders; but then such choppers have been largely limited to feed material and are not used for grinding wood, refuse, and the like.